I was emailed a reset key. It was 40 hex letters, so 20 bytes

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Asked: May 16, 20262026-05-16T10:04:38+00:00 2026-05-16T10:04:38+00:00

I was emailed a reset key. It was 40 hex letters, so 20 bytes

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I was emailed a reset key. It was 40 hex letters, so 20 bytes which is 160 bits. I thought to myself, why 160 bits? Maybe it’s a 128 (key) + 32 bit (checksum or id or something). Maybe something else. I am sure it was done for a reason but why? (PS: The person on the other end seems to not want to say why or maybe doesn’t know. So asking elsewhere hasn’t worked. I felt silly.)

I am sure script is written in PHP as the rest of the site is.

ha, ok, so it might be a SHA-1. But what would be hashed? I reset my password twice this evening, i am not sure how long apart but they were the same keys. I’ll try tomorrow. Maybe its a datestamp + user id i wonder…